[Al Skierkiewicz]

Gadeer,
I use my nose, almost all failed devices emit a serious odor when they have failed. Then I use my eyes. When a Victor has failed due to abuse or reverse polarity, it usually blows the case apart on one or more of the FETs. The PD rarely has an issue but if you just connect the battery and nothing else, three LEDs ought to light up and the end of the board. If you have motor controllers connected to the outputs with no breakers installed, you will see Red LEDs below the WAGO connectors light for each circuit, indicating the breaker is open. The DSC has three LEDs that light when the power is applied. If you do not get all three, there is usually a problem with the power input. A DSC power LED will light when connected to a working cRio but not all three.
There is no hard and fast rule for measuring with a meter any of the components. In certain failures, using an ohmmeter will show a short when checking the PWM inputs but this is a very rare occurrence.